Chisinau court expected to make decision on Filat arrest request in an hour
CHISINAU. Oct 18 (Interfax) - A court decision on the issue of preliminary arrest for Moldova's former prime minister Vlad Filat will be made within an hour, a lawyer for the defendant told Interfax.
The court hearing is being held in Chisinau behind closed doors. Among the people who are present there are Andriana Betisor, prosecutor of the National Center for Corruption Prevention, investigators, and also a group of lawyers led by Igor Popa. Among the lawyers are lawyers from Romania and the U.S.
Filat is accused of "massive passive corruption" and "gaining from influence and massive bribery." The court hearing on Sunday is considering a request made by the prosecutors for Filat's preliminary arrest for a period of thirty days for the period of the investigation.
Under the Moldovan Criminal Code, Filat is facing 15 years in prison, a fine in an amount of up to 200,000 lei ($20,000) and a ban on working in certain positions for a period of ten to 15 years.
The former prime minister was detained on Thursday in the parliament building after the parliament voted for him to be stripped of his parliamentary immunity. The reason for the accusation was that Ilan Shora (the husband of pop singer Jasmine) turned himself in and said he had paid Filat some $250,000 in bribes since 2011.
In the course of the hearing, which lasted some three hours, the court building was picketed by two camps, supporters and opponents of Filat. The police have encircled the court building, but they are not interfering in the protesters' actions. They had to intervene several times, when the protesters on both sides were close to clashing with each other. The police have divided the two camps of protesters by making a cordon between them.